Picking up immediately from part two’s Desolation of Smaug, the action is one big CGI-fest with ugly Orcs, bulbous goblin creatures, not to mention non-stop massive battle sequences one after another (beheading’s, anyone?) that almost takes away from the main characters story. Director Peter Jackson does his thing with his signature swooping crane shots, close-ups for dramatic effect, and lotsa sword play, but still has time to give us some genuine quiet personal moments that show us he’s not all about villainous fantasy sequences.
Thank the four screenwriter’s, Jackson, Fran Walsh, Phillippa Boyens,
and Guillermo del Toro, for wrapping up this trilogy with solid action, a wisp of humor here and there, and heart-felt humanity. . . even when that humanity comes through in a Dwarf, Elf, or Hobbit.*
Okay, so you have something that everybody else wants, and you’re willing to kill to keep it. A mountain full of Dwarf gold? Sure. What about a golden fleece that will bring prosperity to your lands and cure any disease or even death? Yeah, that’s pretty nifty, too.
Based on Greek myth, this outstanding movie directed by Don Chaffey and utilizing the amazing stop-motion animation skills of Ray Harryhausen, is a wild adventure of Jason (Todd Armstrong), a young man who is set a quest: to find and retrieve a magical golden fleece from a distant land. But it won’t be easy as King Pelias (Douglas Wilmer) wants him dead because a prophecy says that Jason will eventually kill him. Well, that not good!
So, Pelias’ nasty son, Acastus (Gary Raymond) sneaks on board Jason’s crew of the Argo to sabotage the voyage and make sure that Jason dies accidentally.. or by his hands, whichever comes first. On the trip, which is viewed by the always arguing gods Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) and Hera (Honor Blackman), meet all manner of crazy and bizarre people and sites on their voyage. There’s King Triton (no, not the Disney version) and the Clashing Rocks, a 50-ft tall killer bronze statue named Talos, and Phineas (Patrick Troughton), a blind prophet terrorized by two ugly, screeching harpies.
They finally make it to the island of Colchis where the fleece is, but they’re not exactly welcomed with open arms. The islands King Aeetes (Jack Gwillim) wants the Argonauts dead and Jason has to battle the Hydra, a seven-headed dragon in order to steal the fleece, but even after he does that and defeats the Hydra, King Aeetes conjures up a bunch of evil sword-wielding skeletons from the Hyrda’s teeth! Wicked!
Like I said, it’s a wild adventure filled with betrayal, lust, murder, magic, and even Hercules thrown in for good measure! Screenplay by Beverly Cross and Jan Read that is steeped in Greek mythos and yet has a nice feel to it with the dialogue that isn’t goofy or sappy. I really loved this movie as a kid and Harryhausen’s work is jaw-dropping for its time, and he regarded this his best work ever. This is more than a ‘sword ‘n’ sandal’ movie, it’s a classic that is also on AFI’s Top Ten List for Best Fantasy Films.